Macross Missles
History: The Derringer is a standard atmospheric long range missile for the RDF, Southern Cross Navy and REF. Launched by mecha, ships and submarines, the various Derringer variants serve as anti-air, anti-ship and ground bombardment missiles. In 2007, the fledgling RDF was searching for anti-air and medium surface-to-surface missiles with which to equip their mecha. Usually, the difference in types would prohibit much commonality between the designs, but in this case, the requirements for speed and payload were almost identical, and thus it became possible to create a single airframe for all missiles. This airframe became the Derringer, one of the first multi-purpose missiles, capable of, for instance, air defense as well as ground attack. It was a very short but relatively thick missile without fins, instead relying on vectored thrust and body lift. To ensure a high speed and long range, an air breathing rocket-ramjet propulsion system was chosen. The Derringer A was a standard anti-air and ground attack missile, with the first truly multi-purpose seeker head, developed with alien technology, providing the guidance. The Derringer A was mounted on the Phalanx and Shark Destroids, and used in medium air defense battalions as well. The Derringer B was a basically a Derringer A with the HE warhead replaced with a cluster payload and an inertial guidance during the flight phase, with an active radar unit for the terminal phase. The Derringer B was specialized for area attacks, but because of its limited effectiveness against full-size Zentraedi it was less used on Earth than the A model. The B variant was, however, quite effective against the Invid. The Derringer C was a tactical nuclear missile. In 2010, the Navy developed an anti-ship variant of the Derringer. The missile's speed was respectable for such a role, but the short range and 100 kg HE warhead were insufficient to be used against ships. The Navy therefore stretched the missile by 40 centimeters, increased the warhead weight by half to 150 kg and replaced the HE with a plasma incendiary warhead. The fuel storage was increased as well. This missile, which was still compatible with all Derringer launchers, was technically highly successful, although it severely lacked viable targets and did not get its baptism in a shooting war until the EBSIS attack on Western Europe, on the eve of the Invid invasion. It is a standard weapon for the Warspite and Prometheus classes of Naval ships. The final versions are the Derringers E/F, which are still in production to this day. They combine the multi-purpose seeker head of the A version with the warhead of the D ship killer (E), or with a HE warhead of the same weight (F), and update other electronics as well. Although far more effective, the missile bins on the Shark and Phalanx can only accept these stretched missiles by allowing part of them to protrude in the open. At present, there are plans to produce a Derringer G, which is a Derringer E/F with the warhead replaced by a heavy cluster payload. None are known to have been produced to date, however. History: The successor to the Stiletto and the Scorpion, the Diamondback was designed in 2017 to be more compact than the previous missiles, so as to better fit in the internal launchers on the advanced mecha then in development. For the past 28 years the Diamondback has been the most important medium range mecha launched missile in the Terran inventory, and there are no plans to replace the missile, though several upgrades are being considered. The first Diamondback versions were the conventionally armed A and the plasma armed B version, for general purpose use and ground attack respectively. Both versions were heavily used on Earth by the Southern Cross and in space by the REF, which also produced these missiles in large numbers in the Local Group. An anti-radar version, the C, was less used. Though a large number of these missiles was shipped with the REF for use against Zentraedi, most remained in storage on Tirol as the actual enemy, the Invid, provided few targets for these defense suppression missiles. The most use made of these missiles was during the REF Civil War, when suitable targets were available in numbers. The last of the pre-REF versions is the nuclear tipped Diamondback D. This missile uses a small tactical nuclear fission device as its warhead, and was typically employed against large airborne enemy formations, small hives and Mollusk Carriers. Improved versions were developed by the REF, the first entering service in the late twenties. The E and F versions were basically A and B versions with a new, improved seeker head with additional UV and visual sensors for better homing on Invid mecha, and a slightly improved rocket engine with ballistic path option which, with mid-course guidance, increased maximum range. The as yet final version of the Diamondback, the G, was designed by the REF after the Marcus Antonius returned from Earth with examples of the Southern Cross's Lightning cluster missile. Recognizing the potential of this missile against a numerically superior enemy like the Invid, the REF designers decreased the engine section, as the Invid did not have sufficiently ranged weapons to fire on mecha at more than a few kilometers, and used the space and weight freed for an outsized cluster warhead. This missile entered service in 2044, just in time for the final attack on Reflex Point, and in that battle proved its lethality by taking out an average of 1.6 Invid mecha per missile fired. History: The Hammerhead is the most numerous missile used in the last three decades. As the premier dogfight missile of the post-2015 RDF,the Southern Cross, and the REF, the Hammerhead has more kills to its name than any other missile, and is arguably the most important missile in service today, carried on almost all mecha, aircraft and other vehicles. Built as a cylindrical body with a raised seeker section and narrowing thrust port, the Hammerhead is based on the Zentraedi Maggot Universal Dogfight Missile, which equipped the Quaedluun-rau Power Armors and the various Glaug configurations. Like its inspiration, the Hammerhead is small enough to be carried in large numbers. Compared with the Zentraedi missile though, the Hammerhead has almost double the range and a far more advanced seeker head. Two warheads are available for the missile; one, a conventional high explosive warhead, is most often used against mecha, the other warhead, a plasma design, is more commonly used against ground targets. However, both missiles have been used against all manner of targets. The Hammerhead is capable of locking onto off-angle targets after emergence from an internal launcher or launch tubes, and thus mixes flawlessly with helmet- mounted sights despite requiring a lockon-after-launch routine. The first versions of the Hammerhead were the Hammerhead A, with a high explosive warhead, and the Hammerhead B, which was the same missile, fitted with a plasma warhead. The REF developed a slightly updated version on Tirol, with an improved seeker head incorporating an UV element, which gave enhanced detection capabilities against Invid mecha thrusters. The improved Hammerheads were the C and D models, once again only differing in their high explosive/plasma warheads. The Southern Cross, not fighting the Invid, kept using the A and B versions until the return of the REF relief fleet. After that, in anticipation of possible Invid attack, the Southern Cross switched production to the C and D variants as well. However, at the time of the Invid Invasion, most SC stocks were still of the A and B versions. History: This missile was the premier short range ground launched missile of the RDF, and after the Stiletto the second multi-purpose missile in service. It was conceived in 2004 as a successor to the Hellfire and a complement to the Brimstone anti-armor missile. As such, it was mounted on all Tomahawk and Spartan Destroids. In comparison to the Hellfire, the Rapier had a vastly increased speed, with correspondingly lower flight times, which gave targeted mecha far less time to evade. The first production version was the Rapier A. As the expected enemy mecha did not have as heavy armor as a main battle tank, the Rapier could carry a lighter warhead than the Hellfire. This resulted in a missile with a diameter of 12 cm, and a range of 8.2 km, far for ground launched missiles. The second version required expert knowledge to recognize it as a Rapier. In the place of the 12 cm HEAT warhead of the A version, the B version coupled the A's engine to a heavy, overcaliber fragmentation warhead of 17 cm diameter with proximity fusing. This missile was not meant to be used against armor, but against unarmored personnel and, mainly, as an anti-missile missile. The proximity fuse was sensitive enough to detect an enemy missile, and the warhead powerful enough to destroy the missile. The Rapier B was used as an anti-air missile by the Spartan (the Tomahawk had dedicated anti-air missiles) and was also adopted by the RDF Navy as a point defense missile against incoming ship-killers. As such, it was mounted in numbers on the Daedalus and Prometheus classes, and, unexpectedly, on the Warspite class of submarines, where the Rapiers gave the missiles a defense against ASW helicopters and aircraft. Though phased out by the Army in 2018, the Rapier remained in service with the Navy to the Invid Invasion. History: The Spacehawk is the main space to ground weapon of the REF. It is basically a Derringer E or F missile, fitted with a booster and a heat shield. If launched against other spacecraft or spaceborne mecha, the Spacehawk acts like a standard missile, with the booster rocket engine accelerating the missile to coasting speed, re-igniting the booster after closing with the target. In this mode, the ceramic heat shield is ejected shortly after launch to lower the weight of the missile and free the seeker heads. When used against ground targets, the missile will not eject the ceramic shielding, but align on a re-entry trajectory, and use its booster engine to de-orbit. The missile then coasts down to the atmosphere, and re-enters. Once the speed has been lowered to Mach 7.5, the remains of the shielding are ejected, and the missile aligns on its target. If the missile is programmed for a direct strike, the engine will ignite to keep this speed until impact, if necessary ejecting the spent booster and continuing with the Derringer engine. If atmospheric maneuvering is required, the booster will be ejected, and the Derringer engine will start running at Mach 3.0 in a sustainer mode to keep that speed until impact. Should the launch vehicle be in the atmosphere (a rare occurrence for most starships) the shielding and booster will be ejected immediately and the missile will then act like a standard Derringer missile. The first two versions of the Spacehawk were the Spacehawk A, with a directed HE warhead, and the nuclear tipped Spacehawk B version. An improved model, Spacehawk C, was produced from 2015 onwards, with improved electronics and sensor systems, but otherwise identical to the Spacehawk A. The Spacehawk served with the RDF and REF in large numbers, and is still the premier medium space launched missile today. History: The Stiletto was the first production multi-purpose missile designed on Earth. Because of the make up of the Zentraedi forces, where every soldier was equipped with armor resistant to cluster bomblets (be it in the form of a Battlepod or a personal armor suit) but for which a heavy anti-armor weapon was overkill, and also because of the flight profiles of the new VF-1 Valkyrie fighters, which could fly at multi- mach speeds but also hover and land, a new missile with, for its time, unique capabilities was required. The new missile was required to be able to be fired from a hover at a few feet above the ground, but also at multi-mach speeds dozens of kilometers high in the atmosphere, and was also required to be space capable, and thus needed an additional thrust vectoring steering system. Additionally, the missile needed a guidance system that could lock onto ground targets as easily as on airborne targets. On the other hand, the missile did not require the heavy warhead found on standard air-to-surface missiles such as the Maverick; instead, a modified Hellfire warhead would suffice for almost all Zentraedi mecha and infantry targets. As a final demand, the missile had to be capable of hypervelocity speeds to intercept high speed targets, although the procurement office understood that this speed would cut range down to about a third of what otherwise could be reached. The result was the Stiletto. The missile was small and light enough to be carried in large numbers on multiple ejector racks, and was the most important Terran airborne medium range missile during the First Robotech War. Indeed, until the Hammerhead entered service, the Stiletto was nearly the only missile used by the RDF Air Force and Naval Air squadrons. Two versions were built in enormous numbers from 2007 through 2018. From 2007 to 2009 the A version was built on Earth and on board the Macross SDF-1. In 2009 the B version, with an improved seeker and engine resulting in more accuracy, faster lock-on rates and longer range, replaced it on the production lines. History: As the war with the Invid grew ever more extensive, the REF developed a medium range missile for the Garfish class. This missile was more compact than other missiles in its class, and more could be carried in the limited magazine of a Garfish class vessel. In addition, they could be launched from the class' torpedo tubes, unlike some other missiles. The Barracuda missiles were designed to attack Invid mecha assaults and minor fortifications. As such, they carried a relatively large warhead (the A version) or a cluster warhead (the B version). Both versions worked as advertised, although this missile was tailored for the cramped Garfishes, and thus had to compromise on several key factors, such as range. Newly built destroyers have, partly for this reason, reverted to the previous system of silo launchers, and no longer carry the Barracuda, thus limiting the lifespan of this missile to the lifespan of the last non-converted Garfish. History: When the Beta fighter was being designed around 2015, it was recognised that the mecha would be incapable of carrying the heavy anti-ground missiles like the Maverick and the Ghoul/Silencer combo anywhere other than under the wings. This would restrict the atmospheric re-entry capabilities of the mecha in an unacceptable manner. Hence, the Beta needed an internal heavy attack missile. This missile became the Coralsnake. The Coralsnake was a short range (8 km on a ballistic trajectory) missile, even shorter than a Hammerhead. Due to its spherical design, however, it had more internal volume available, which is reflected in the 250% larger warhead. Due to the small external dimensions of the Coralsnake, 32 could be carried internally by the Beta. Additionaly, the missile had a limited anti-mecha capability by using it on a direct flight path. However, range in this mode was severely diminished. In the field, this missile was rather a disappointment. It was not really suited for mecha targets, and still carried too small a warhead for anything larger, such as a bunker complex. In addition, the Beta needed to close with the target in order to bring the Coralsnakes into range. If at all possible, the Betas therefore mounted Maverick and Diamondback missiles on their wings when used against ground targets. This missile was only used in the Beta fighters, which were exclusively used by the REF. It was in production until several years after the war, and large numbers still equip the surviving Beta fighters. The C/D versions are identical to their A/B precursors, save for a more capable seeker head. They replaced the A/B versions on the production lines on Tirol in 2025. History: The CBM-200 is a cluster missile based on the airframe of the RMS-3. Apart from the airframe, though, there is little commonality between the two missiles. The CBM-200 has a far larger warhead compartment loaded with 200 small armor-piercing bomblets. The engine is far smaller, as it was not envisioned that this missile would be launched from distances much larger than 50 km. Consequently, the speed and range are far less than those of the RMS-3. Used by the REF in the earlier stages of the Sentinels' War and mop-up operations, the CBM-200 gradually lost its effectiveness as the Invid learned countermeasures against this weapon (mostly by dispersing their mecha on detection of a possible CBM-200 launch). Thus, when the REF started sending expeditions to Terra to dislodge the Invid there, the CBM-200 was no longer a front-line weapon. This was unfortunate, as the Regess' Invid had never learned to deal with this weapon as their brethren in the Local Group had. It was not until the battle of Reflex Point that the REF made tentative trials with this weapon again, and the war ended before the missiles could be used extensively. After the war, however, this weapon was once again in frontline service, although the lethality of the bomblets against the new Invid mecha remains unproven. History: The standard early RDF (and later on, REF) ship and ground launched surface-to-air missile, the Warhawk was a development of the SM-2MR Standard surface-to-air missile. Compared with the earlier missile, the Warhawk was only 75% as long, had less wing surface and a 'blockier' appearance. The guidance was the very accurate TVM system also used in the pre-RDF Patriot. The missile was developed in 1998 as a complement to the SM-2MR Standard missile, and was adopted by the early RDF upon the latter's formation. Due to its very accurate guidance, high acceleration engine and overall reliability, the early RDF also acquired a space capable version, in which a thrust vectoring system was capable of taking over the steering that the tail fins provided in the atmosphere. Because of the performance improvement, this version was later also issued to planetary forces, and at the date of the SDF-1's launch, all missiles were of this version. Upon formation, the REF accepted the Warhawk as one of their standard missiles, as well. There are two versions of the Warhawk, the conventional A version and the nuclear B version. Both also have a secondary capability against surface and space targets, and are regularly upgraded with modern electronics. History : The Stinger II was developed in 2001 as a replacement for the Gremlin and Stinger I shoulder launched anti-air missiles used by the various armies. Unlike the previous missiles, the Stinger II could not be launched from the shoulder, but required a jeep or tripod. However, the required launch facilities were minimal. The Stinger II is a cylindrical missile with a cone over its sensor section, which consists of six 'staring' planar IR arrays. Four small fins provide control and stability. The Stinger II was procured for the Tomahawk as a longer ranged anti-air missile than the Rapier, and also as a back-up in case the Rapier proved to be a failure. However, the Stinger II was quickly surpassed by other missiles, and though the Tomahawks kept their missile 'sixpacks' until 2020, the missile was never mounted on other mecha. History: Developed in 2007, the Angel of Death is a nuclear tipped missile intended to give spaceborne mecha some capability against large starships. Its primary carrier, the VF-1 Valkyrie, can carry six of these missiles under its wings. If required, the missiles can also be used in an atmosphere and against ground targets. In the latter case, a large number of possible flight paths (including ballistic, terrain following or a combination) can be programmed into the missile up until the launch initialization. Primarily used in space against Zentraedi starships, these missiles, though powerful enough to destroy a Strike Cruiser with one hit, were usually launched in salvos in order to overwhelm the point defenses of their targets. In 2013 RMS-1 production ceased in order to retool the factories for the improved descendant of this missile, the RMS-2. Existing RMS-1 missiles were upgraded to the RMS-2 standard. History: This is an improved version of the RMS-1 missile with longer range, an improved warhead, more intelligent AI guidance and a more flexible propulsion system. The external dimensions and interface software remained unchanged from the older missile, and it can therefore be simply retrofitted to older mecha such as the VF-1 Valkyrie. From 2014 onward this missile replaced the RMS-1 on the production lines on Earth and with the REF. It is still in production today. History: Designed to defend fixed installations, the Bomarck was an ICBM sized, silo launched anti-ship rocket with orbital range. Based on existent ICBM systems, the Bomarck used a large nuclear or plasma warhead against Zentraedi starships. Due to the desire for a second, competing design for a ship launched rocket in case the Trident F-4 failed, the Bomarck was also mounted on the ARMD class carriers and as the heavy missile defense of the L-5 shipyard. Although the nuclear version was capable of destroying a Zentraedi warship with one hit, they are never confirmed to have been used in the role of an atmospheric anti-ship missile, partly because of political reasons, partly because the early RDF was reluctant to detonate large yield nuclear weapons inside the Earth atmosphere. There is a possibility that during the Zentraedi Holocaust some of these nuclear weapons were launched against the orbiting Zentraedi Grand Fleet, but most Bomarck launch bases were destroyed, and no records survive to confirm or deny this. However, no trace of the nuclear material could be detected in the remains of some bases known to have been equipped with nuclear tipped Bomarcks, suggesting they were indeed launched. Nuclear Bomarcks have been fired by units of the Orbital Fleet, and are credited with the destruction of three Zentraedi Tou Redir scout ships and one Thuverl Salan cruiser. The conventional tipped weapons, which were launched in a few instances by the ground bases, never succeeded in bringing a ship down. The Southern Cross used the Bomarck as its anti-orbital missile system, until the Skylord came into service and replaced the Bomarck. History: When the RDF was formed in the early years of the 21st century, very little was as yet understood about the Tirolian sciences. The first weapon systems procured by the early RDF were therefore stock Earth designs, slightly adapted for space combat. One of the best examples of this is the Trident missile system, designed from submarine launched ballistic missile systems in use by the former US Navy. These missiles were redesigned to be able to remain reliable and operational in space conditions, and then installed on the first examples of Terran spaceships, the Oberth class, as well as on the SDF-1. In combat, these missiles have scored several kills, two of which include Terran ships, as two Oberth class destroyers were destroyed in a terrorist action with these missiles. Apart from these, the Trident missiles bagged a Thuverl Salan cruiser during the initial Zentraedi advance on Macross Island, and Tridents launched from the SDF-1 were instrumental in bringing about the explosion of the Zentraedi Home Base. History: The surface-to-surface missiles used by the early RDF Navy were based on the venerable Tomahawk design used by the US Navy from the 1980s onwards. However, the missile had been extensively modified in the Global Civil War. The final pre-Robotech versions introduced a ramjet propulsion system for supersonic speeds, swept wings, very precise navigation systems and a hardened warhead with penetration capabilities. The terminal homing was capable against both land targets and surface ships. The price for this enhanced performance was a reduction in range; even with a ballistic maximum efficiency trajectory followed by a supersonic dive the maximum range was 520 km. A supersonic low-level trajectory limited the range to 135 km. Usually, a combination trajectory was programmed into the missile. The early RDF Navy then had this version modified with Reflex electronics for better penetration (the 109-R missile) and ordered two more versions; one with a cluster warhead and the other a nuclear tipped missile. The Tomahawk was used in all VLS-equipped surface ships (in the BGM- 109 versions) and in the submarine forces (the UGM-109 versions). However, the missile was never used in its anti-ship mode. The conventional models saw a lot of use in ground-attack modes during the Malcontent Uprisings, but were not fired in the Second Robotech War. Their use during and after the Invid Invasion was limited due to the nature of the occupation. History: The Recluse is the culmination of 80 years of development on grenades and grenade launchers. Equipped with both a booster and sustainer engine the Recluse can maneuver during its entire flight, and the guidance system is accurate up to 20 cm even at the maximum range. Fired mainly from the chest launchers on the Blowsperior Cyclone, the Recluse could be found anywhere with the REF or its allied forces. Although reliable, simple to use, and accurate, the Recluse remains a small projectile with a small warhead. Although usually capable of taking out an Iigaa, it is less capable against the larger Gurab, and almost useless against the Gamo and Gosu. Recent trends therefore favor larger missiles, and the Recluse is bound to be retired in the near future. History: The second most common infantry missile in the REF (the Recluse was produced in higher numbers), the Scorpion is unusual in that it has, standard, a plasma warhead. Thinner but far longer than the Recluse, the Scorpion also has double the range and a higher speed than its smaller sibling. The Scorpion is more effective against the Gurab than the Recluse, but the small warhead still cannot guarantee destruction of this mecha unless it hits a vulnerable spot. However, the higher speed and longer range make it safer for a trooper to fire the missile. Against the newer Invid mecha the Scorpion has a mediocre performance at best. Although no longer in production, large stores of Scorpion missiles ensure that this missile will be used for years to come. History: The Tarantula is a small, but still fast and accurately guided missile that was developed in concert with the RL-6 shoulder-mounted missile thrower in the early 2020s. Smaller and lighter than the RL-2, the Tarantula and RL-6 represented a compromise between warhead size and rate of fire that promised to pack a comparable amount of firepower into a more easily portable package. The Tarantula was meant to give foot soldiers a better fighting chance against enemy mecha than its predecessor, the RL-1. Rather than the RL-2's larger missile, which could carry a more substantial and effective warhead, the Tarantula was given a small incendiary warhead, and enough speed to enable the missile to penetrate into the target before detonating. The resulting, very hot fire would then wreck the mecha. What the warhead might have lacked in explosive power, it made up in numbers; with the capacity to fire six rockets per launcher in quick succession, a squad equipped with RL-6 launchers could fill the air with dozens of rockets in a matter of seconds. With the lack of a workable anti-mecha energy rifle at the beginning of the Pioneer mission, the RL-6 was issued to REF infantry divisions in fairly large numbers. It also saw limited use in the Southern Cross as a stop-gap until their own energy weapons were developed. The introduction of the FAL-2 and Gallant rifles reduced the REF infantry's dependence on the RL-6 as its primary anti-mecha weapon, but it continued to play an important part in infantry strategy. Toward the end of the 2020s, the introduction of the Veritech Cyclone ride armor offered a new role for the RL-6 launcher. The Cyclone's augmented strength and stability meant that even soldiers who had trouble with the RL-6's recoil when fired from the shoulder could wield the launcher one-handed without difficulty—and the Cyclone's targeting computer could link up with the RL-6's integral sight for improved guidance as well. The RL-6 was often issued as the standard weapon for the Bartley-model Cyclone, to make up for its lack of internal munitions. In its use with Cyclone infantry, the RL-6 was issued with a set of assorted muzzle tips that matched the available paint colors of the Cyclone motorcycles. This assisted Cyclone platoons with many identical weapons in keeping track of which weapon belonged to which soldier. Infantry-issue launchers usually had a dark grey muzzle tip. As one of the easier heavy weapons to find in Mars Division shuttle wreckage and old Southern Cross fortifications, the RL-6 was fairly common among the anti-Invid Resistance movement on Earth. It was used both with and without Cyclones, and was valued for its lightness and man-portability as much as for its extreme effectiveness against any Invid mecha up to the Gamo Pincer Command Unit. That it did not rely upon Invid-detectable protoculture was another point in its favor. Many of the launchers remain in civilian hands, though Tarantulas have become harder for civilians to obtain since the end of the Third Robotech War. The RL-6 and Tarantula remain in service with the REF, particularly among Cyclone-mounted infantry divisions; however, the increased availability of energy weapons and the less-vulnerable Invid mecha designs produced by the end of the Third Robotech War have reduced its role. Missiles are a staple in any Alpha or Beta load-out, and are powerful anti-mecha, personnel and installation tools. However pilots are advised not to be overly reliant on them because while powerful they lack the element of a Pilots control. Once released, missiles arm themselves and streak toward and target via the fastest route possible. However while this grants them a level of autonomy, they are easily fooled. Chaff and flares can easily disrupt their tracking mechanisms and well versed pilots are also exceptionally good at shooting volleys out of the air! The UEEF uses several different types of missiles, although the most common for the VF/A-6I is the Heavy short, medium and Long range variants. Reflex warheads as well as Plasma are incredibly rare, and although smart, are not often issued to pilots except for special assignments, as rationing protocols dictate. Note: Missiles in bold are available as smart bombs with a +5 to strike. Otherwise, all missiles have a +3 bonus to strike. HEAPS, because of their nature critical on a roll of 19-20. =Short-Range Missiles= =Medium-Range Missiles= =Long-Range Missiles= https://zarconian.wikia.com/wiki/Zarco_Space_Army http://zarco-macross.wikidot.com/wiki:warships https://zarconian.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Space_Airforce